...cause it might just come true.
i wished for an adventure and i got one.
it's been ages when i took the dumanjug-guihulngan route in going back to la carlota and certainly a lot has changed. i trusted what i've come across the internet so much and this is where it led me to.
in my dire need to save on taxi money, i waited for the e-sixty-sixers and took the service (which used to be stefan's). there were like eleven of us, cheyenne had to sit on my lap. but once the mactan denizen's were dropped off, the last four of us had a comfortable ride which went as far as consolacion. it was already 2:05 when i alit at the south bus terminal.
there was only one bus available scheduled for moalboal which will pass through barili and it was scheduled to leave the terminal at 3:00 a.m. I wonder where have all the mini buses went. the place was almost deserted except for the men in blue and white who inspected incoming vehicles and passengers. it was a welcome change if anything. travelling alone didn't seem that scary anymore. i just hoped there were more options (vhire, others).
the bus left promptly at 3:00 a.m. we had a quick toilet stop by shamrock pension house along barili highway, reaching tangil port in less than 2 hours.
i wished for an adventure and i got one.
it's been ages when i took the dumanjug-guihulngan route in going back to la carlota and certainly a lot has changed. i trusted what i've come across the internet so much and this is where it led me to.
in my dire need to save on taxi money, i waited for the e-sixty-sixers and took the service (which used to be stefan's). there were like eleven of us, cheyenne had to sit on my lap. but once the mactan denizen's were dropped off, the last four of us had a comfortable ride which went as far as consolacion. it was already 2:05 when i alit at the south bus terminal.
there was only one bus available scheduled for moalboal which will pass through barili and it was scheduled to leave the terminal at 3:00 a.m. I wonder where have all the mini buses went. the place was almost deserted except for the men in blue and white who inspected incoming vehicles and passengers. it was a welcome change if anything. travelling alone didn't seem that scary anymore. i just hoped there were more options (vhire, others).
the bus left promptly at 3:00 a.m. we had a quick toilet stop by shamrock pension house along barili highway, reaching tangil port in less than 2 hours.
healthy mangroves lining the dumanjug coast
but i should have taken an earlier land trip from the city as the 4:30 trip has already left by the time we early birds arrived. well, who would have known that of the two ferries operated by Rodriguez shipping one is undergoing some electrical repairs (the old woman in whose stand i had my first cup of coffee volunteered the information, she added that she couldn't even remember when the other ships have retired from shuttling cebu-negros travelers. the m/v aiko, she mentioned). Or that of the 3 shipping lines published on the site that i so trusted with this itinerary, only one is in operation. that makes only one ship shuttling across the channel for that day. to our great dismay, the next trip was to be at 9:30.
m/v leonor 3 undergoing electrical repair
the woman, who in the next 10 hours of the journey i have come to know so well, related of knowing another way. i egged her to take that route instead to no avail. apparently she also had that hambongan life or death experience on an outrigged motorboat. so we waited patiently for roughly five hours..whiling the time with stories of our lives...well, hers mainly.
she paid for breakfast and the least i could do in the given situation was to lend my ear a hundred percent which was just i did.
her story was a "maalaala mo kaya" material, i had to marvel at her inner strength in keeping a straight face. she's a single mother of four and used to be married to a scout ranger from leyte. theirs was a union which has its roots from a persistent courting of a seasoned military man to a rebellious and vulnerable daughter of a strict senior officer. they made history actually as being the first couple married in 1984, when the scout rangers were first deployed in negros.
she's more than a pleasant company. no sooner that i have forgotten how this trip is going to cost me timewise. the shipping operation cannot be faulted though. it arrived at 8:40 and left promptly at 9:30.
the wharf is still under repair and i hope that the 6 pesos tax and terminal fee collected at the gate will be spent to expedite the completion of a working washroom like the one they have in liloan port (which even has liquid soap and tissue paper provision).
the view of guihulngan from the sea was breathtaking. though missing the verdant magroves which is common sight along dumanjug coast, the resorts that litter the shore looked well kept. aboard the "trisikad" to catch the bus at the terminal, we took a short but scenic view of the idyllic township passing through the boulevard (well, i don't think there is another way). the place was clean and quiet and is an ideal getaway place. the people speak cebuano but some words escaped me. it's the intonation. it resembles the sing-song variety that hiligaynon is famous for.
guihulngan boulevard...from the wharf to the bus terminal 
guihulngan landmarklightning strikes three times, the old saying says. guess what? when we got to the terminal at 11 am, the bus has already left. we (yes, i was still with ate juvy) waited for 30 min and luckily a van stopped by. boy, if you have only seen how 18 passengers were crammed inside the van, excluding the driver and "konduktor" (yes, dears, there was a "konduktor" on board and he stood on the side the whole time and everytime he opens the van door, he was close to kissing the lady passenger sitting right behind the front seat). i was so sleepy by the time, i dosed off during the one-hour trip, waking up only when the passengers started getting off which signaled that we were in canlaon city already.
a peek into thr vhire's interior. "konduktor"in blue
guess again? yes, the 12:30 trip to bacolod via la carlota just left and the next trip was scheduled for 1:15. i took the time to freshen up in the loo for Php 1.00. while waiting, we marveled at this guy who showed off his skills with the soccer ball which earned him a whooping Php 10k from wilie revillame. the wait would have been bearable had it not for the cigarette smoke that was short of choking me. thankfully the bus arrived and left in time.
and i thought the adventure is over but itseemed that fate wanted it to be my most memorable trip to date. shorly after leaving the city, we all bathe in dust as we passed by the still eternally under repair road (i forgot what district that was but it was barely 15 min away from the bus terminal). and when we reached haguimit, it was raining cats and dogs. i was literally muddy. i got wet while wrestling with the locks to get the window down.
in familiar territory finally...after almost 2 hours
to say that i was tired was an understatement. but if you ask if i'd take the same route again, i'd say yes...as the experience far outweighed the discomforts that i'm sure not to enjoy anymore before long.
expense summary:
cebu city south bus terminal to tangil, dumanjug - 71.00
dumanjug to guihulngan, upper deck -130.00
guihulngan to canlaon, vhire - 50.00
canlaon to la carlota, ceres - 74.00
to say that i was tired was an understatement. but if you ask if i'd take the same route again, i'd say yes...as the experience far outweighed the discomforts that i'm sure not to enjoy anymore before long.
expense summary:
cebu city south bus terminal to tangil, dumanjug - 71.00
dumanjug to guihulngan, upper deck -130.00
guihulngan to canlaon, vhire - 50.00
canlaon to la carlota, ceres - 74.00
No comments:
Post a Comment